We are currently in Enfield, CT for the Short Course Nationals and it’s a perfect day here. The temperature isn’t that high and there’s a nice breeze blowing. Today is practice day and there are only a handful of drivers here so far and everyone has been out on the track for some laps. Factory drivers such as Jammin’s Chad Bradley and Team Associate’s Richard Saxton are on hand with their factory rides and they are already putting down some fast laps. Chad Bradley is running the Jammin SCRT-10 and it’s hooked up. Check out the photos, it’s a sweet ride. We even have Rock Star Energy Drink/Team Associated driver Kyle LeDuc here racing with us. He has the weekend off from racing in his Lucas Oil off-road truck and decided to come out to CT to hang with the RC crowd. The track is very dusty and the layout isn’t too complicated so everyone should have a good chance at bringing home some hardware. There will be four rounds of qualifying tomorrow and the mains will be on Sunday. There is a threat of rain tomorrow so there might be a chance that we’ll see some qualifying happening on Sunday. The parking lot is filling up as I write this and I’m going to dust off some cobwebs and get some laps in with my AE SC8. We’ll be posting photos and videos all weekend and updating you on the progress of the race. Stay tuned!

Friday, July 09, 2010 5:05:42 PM by Anonymous

What tires are working, Kev?

Friday, July 09, 2010 8:30:17 PM by Kevin Hetmanski

I took a few laps today with my modified SC8 and it felt pretty good. I ran the stock tires just to see how they worked and they would be ok if that was all I had to run. My truck didn’t slide around on the slick track as much as I thought it would. I ordered up some SC8 wheels and AKA Enduros for the truck and the wheels didn’t show up so I mounted a pair on the one spare set of wheels that I had and put them in the rear when I got home tonight. I should be set traction wise tomorrow. I also made some minor adjustments to my truck’s suspension while I was at it. The track is a lot of fun. It’s not overly complicated but does have a few tricky jumps. I’m really looking forward to running with everyone tomorrow. I noticed that my class is filled with sponsored drivers so that should be a good time. I wonder how many times they’ll pass me. Before I left for the day Traxxas’ Steve Slayden rolled in and he was wrenching on his rigs. I’m sure he’ll make the main in his classes he knows the RC Madness dirt well. Hopefully we’ll have something to report for you tomorrow. I just checked the weather and we are looking at the possibility of rain all day. I’m sure we’ll get some rounds in but who knows how many.

I’m not sure what tires are working the best. The track was pretty dry today and everyone seemed to have their fav tire and they all seemed to be different. I’m sure everyone will zero in on a tread or two tomorrow.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 10:35:16 AM by Kevin Hetmanski

I rolled in early this morning and was greeted by a parking lot full of cars and tents. It looks like a lot of guys waited till today to show up and get some laps in before the race started. I’m hearing rumors that there are about 200 entries at the track today. Round one of racing has started and we are about half way through. Racing was halted for the time being because of the insane amount of rain that is coming down right now. Stock short course and the Spec Slash classes have run and it looks like they are running similar lap times. The 1/8-scale electric guys also got their runs in and they look sick out there. Rock Start Energy/Team Associated driver Kyle LeDuc was throwing his truck around the track like he does with his full-size ride. It was pretty cool to see the difference between some of our RC pro guys and Lucas Oil Off-road driver Kyle LeDuc. I ran my Spec Slash and had a great time. I pulled it out of the box this morning, put batteries in and hit the track. I finished 2nd in my first qualifier and can’t wait to get out for my next one. The rain is coming down in buckets as I write this so I think we’re going to be taking a little break to wait for the rain to stop and for the track to dry out. Good thing I ducked inside the hobby shop! Hope my snacks aren’t getting wet outside.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 2:07:39 PM by Kevin Hetmanski

The guys here at RC Madness started to work on the track the second the rain stopped and we are back to the action. Round 1 is almost finished and it looks like we might be able to get one more round of qualifying in today. We are looking at more rain possibly later in the day so it might end up being a half round instead.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 3:28:28 PM by Kevin Hetmanski

Round 1 is in the books and the guys took a 10 min break to do a resort and set up round 2. It was really cool to see the nitro guys running after a day of electric trucks. A lot of the guys in the class are 1/8-scale nitro regulars so they were in their element. Round 2 has just started and we might get one more in before we call it a day. Matt Higgins and I are having a great time at the nats. We’re running in a few different classes and are glad we made that decision.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 6:26:01 AM by Kevin Hetmanski

After finishing the second round of qualifying late in the day the guys at RC Madness decided to run the third and final round into the night. This made things very challenging for everyone once darkness took over the track. RC Madness has two bright lights on top of the driver’s stand and they had a hard time getting proper light to the back side of the track and that make it hard to see your truck. The other issue with the lights was that it made it hard to see the jumps. I ran my third round of Slash Spec and ended up pulling off the track before the race was over. I couldn’t tell what was going on and ended up crashing a lot. I’d be very surprised if anyone was able to advance their qualifying position last night. So far today the sun is shining and we shouldn’t have any issues with rain. All of the mains will be running and the Madness crew has a ton of prizes to give away. It should be a great day!

Sunday, July 11, 2010 9:48:22 AM by Kevin Hetmanski

The weather is perfect here at the track and it looks like we are going to have a great day of racing. We had a slight issue with a power outage this morning but the power is back on and we are setting up the mains. A best paint competition is about to start and all the magazine guys are going to judge the trucks. Prizes are also being gathered and will be given away soon.

Monday, July 12, 2010 8:53:39 AM by Kevin Hetmanski

We had a great day for weather and racing on Sunday. We started the day with the lower mains and some were lucky enough to make the cut and bump up into the next main. About half way through the day we took a quick break and prizes were given away and a few guys put on a really cool helicopter demo. The flying was impressive and we were able to see a few crashes too. Once the A-mains were up, a lot of people gathered to watch the pro drivers that flew out for the event. The racing was close and fun to watch. As everyone was packing up, more prizes were given out then it was time for the hardware. Overall the weekend went pretty well. There were a few minor problems but that didn’t slow things down much. We would like to thank Chris Marcy and the crew at RC Madness for the great time and we look forward to going to the race next year. Congratulations to all the winners! We’ll be posting the results as soon as we get them from RC Madness.

Monday, July 12, 2010 2:52:52 PM by Dean

Hi Kevin,
Thanks for coming out and covering the 2010 Short Course Nationals. You and Matt are great guys and we appreciate all you do for the hobby. I promise not to give you such a hard time in the future too!
Monday, July 12, 2010 5:57:41 PM by Anonymous

I heard it was crazy up there. Something like 200+ entries. Some guy on RCTech said that his qual was over at 10pm and that there were 5 more to go. Pure insnaity. It was bigger than last year, and I’m sure next year will be even bigger.
Monday, July 12, 2010 6:27:40 PM by Anonymous

If you guys want results, you can find them here:
http://www.rcmadness.com/raceresults.html

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 9:19:15 AM by Trevor “Chilly” Duncan

We have the results online at RCCA now and you can view them with this link: